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Daily Readings for Wednesday, September 13, 2017

1 I will sing of your steadfast love, O LORD, forever;
with my mouth I will proclaim your faithfulness to all generations. 2 I declare that your steadfast love is established forever;
your faithfulness is as firm as the heavens.

3 You said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one,
I have sworn to my servant David: 4 ‘I will establish your descendants forever,
and build your throne for all generations.’” Selah

5 Let the heavens praise your wonders, O LORD,
your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones. 6 For who in the skies can be compared to the LORD?
Who among the heavenly beings is like the LORD, 7 a God feared in the council of the holy ones,
great and awesome above all that are around him? 8 O LORD God of hosts,
who is as mighty as you, O LORD?
Your faithfulness surrounds you. 9 You rule the raging of the sea;
when its waves rise, you still them. 10 You crushed Rahab like a carcass;
you scattered your enemies with your mighty arm. 11 The heavens are yours, the earth also is yours;
the world and all that is in it — you have founded them. 12 The north and the south — you created them;
Tabor and Hermon joyously praise your name. 13 You have a mighty arm;
strong is your hand, high your right hand. 14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne;
steadfast love and faithfulness go before you. 15 Happy are the people who know the festal shout,
who walk, O LORD, in the light of your countenance; 16 they exult in your name all day long,
and extol your righteousness. 17 For you are the glory of their strength;
by your favor our horn is exalted. 18 For our shield belongs to the LORD,
our king to the Holy One of Israel.

Morning Psalm 147:1-11

1 Praise the Lord!
How good it is to sing praises to our God;
for he is gracious, and a song of praise is fitting. 2 The Lord builds up Jerusalem;
he gathers the outcasts of Israel. 3 He heals the brokenhearted,
and binds up their wounds. 4 He determines the number of the stars;
he gives to all of them their names. 5 Great is our Lord, and abundant in power;
his understanding is beyond measure. 6 The Lord lifts up the downtrodden;
he casts the wicked to the ground.

7 Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving;
make melody to our God on the lyre. 8 He covers the heavens with clouds,
prepares rain for the earth,
makes grass grow on the hills. 9 He gives to the animals their food,
and to the young ravens when they cry. 10 His delight is not in the strength of the horse,
nor his pleasure in the speed of a runner; 11 but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him,
in those who hope in his steadfast love.

First Reading 1 Kings 17:1-24

1Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the LORD the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.” 2The word of the LORD came to him, saying, 3“Go from here and turn eastward, and hide yourself by the Wadi Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. 4You shall drink from the wadi, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” 5So he went and did according to the word of the LORD; he went and lived by the Wadi Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. 6The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the wadi. 7But after a while the wadi dried up, because there was no rain in the land.

8Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, 9“Go now to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and live there; for I have commanded a widow there to feed you.” 10So he set out and went to Zarephath. When he came to the gate of the town, a widow was there gathering sticks; he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, so that I may drink.” 11As she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” 12But she said, “As the LORD your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of meal in a jar, and a little oil in a jug; I am now gathering a couple of sticks, so that I may go home and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.” 13Elijah said to her, “Do not be afraid; go and do as you have said; but first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterwards make something for yourself and your son. 14For thus says the LORD the God of Israel: The jar of meal will not be emptied and the jug of oil will not fail until the day that the LORD sends rain on the earth.” 15She went and did as Elijah said, so that she as well as he and her household ate for many days. 16The jar of meal was not emptied, neither did the jug of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD that he spoke by Elijah.

17After this the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became ill; his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. 18She then said to Elijah, “What have you against me, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance, and to cause the death of my son!” 19But he said to her, “Give me your son.” He took him from her bosom, carried him up into the upper chamber where he was lodging, and laid him on his own bed. 20He cried out to the LORD, “O LORD my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I am staying, by killing her son?” 21Then he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried out to the LORD, “O LORD my God, let this child’s life come into him again.” 22The LORD listened to the voice of Elijah; the life of the child came into him again, and he revived. 23Elijah took the child, brought him down from the upper chamber into the house, and gave him to his mother; then Elijah said, “See, your son is alive.” 24So the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in your mouth is truth.”

Second Reading Philippians 2:1-11

1If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, 2make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. 4Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. 5Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited, 7 but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form, 8 he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death —
even death on a cross.

9 Therefore God also highly exalted him
and gave him the name
that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

Gospel Reading Matthew 2:1-12

1In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.” 3When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; 4and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. 5They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet: 6 ‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
who is to shepherd my people Israel.’”

7Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. 8Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.” 9When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. 11On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

Evening Psalm 1

1 Happy are those
who do not follow the advice of the wicked,
or take the path that sinners tread,
or sit in the seat of scoffers;

2 but their delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law they meditate day and night. 3 They are like trees
planted by streams of water,
which yield their fruit in its season,
and their leaves do not wither.
In all that they do, they prosper.

4 The wicked are not so,
but are like chaff that the wind drives away. 5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; 6 for the LORD watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.

Evening Psalm 33

1 Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous.
Praise befits the upright. 2 Praise the LORD with the lyre;
make melody to him with the harp of ten strings. 3 Sing to him a new song;
play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.

4 For the word of the LORD is upright,
and all his work is done in faithfulness. 5 He loves righteousness and justice;
the earth is full of the steadfast love of the LORD.

6 By the word of the LORD the heavens were made,
and all their host by the breath of his mouth. 7 He gathered the waters of the sea as in a bottle;
he put the deeps in storehouses.

8 Let all the earth fear the LORD;
let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. 9 For he spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood firm.

10 The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;
he frustrates the plans of the peoples. 11 The counsel of the LORD stands forever,
the thoughts of his heart to all generations. 12 Happy is the nation whose God is the LORD,
the people whom he has chosen as his heritage.

13 The LORD looks down from heaven;
he sees all humankind. 14 From where he sits enthroned he watches
all the inhabitants of the earth — 15 he who fashions the hearts of them all,
and observes all their deeds. 16 A king is not saved by his great army;
a warrior is not delivered by his great strength. 17 The war horse is a vain hope for victory,
and by its great might it cannot save.

18 Truly the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him,
on those who hope in his steadfast love, 19 to deliver their soul from death,
and to keep them alive in famine.

20 Our soul waits for the LORD;
he is our help and shield. 21 Our heart is glad in him,
because we trust in his holy name. 22 Let your steadfast love, O LORD, be upon us,
even as we hope in you.